May 16, 1996. Rep. Joe Kennedy (Socialist, Massachusetts) attacks all
forms of normal enjoyment of alcoholic beverages. Based on a long and sordid
history of family experience with alcohol and the benefits of its prohibition,
young Joe proposes to criminalize many common traditional American
practices.

For propaganda from the folks receiving taxpayer-funded grants to
malign the consumption of alcoholic beverages, visit
MACADand
NCADI

EPA Tells Coors "Stop that beer splashing"

May 28, 1996. Denver Post Capitol Bureau, byline - Thomas Frank.
Official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are "concerned" that
Colorado state officials of the Air Quality Control Commission, the Colorado
state legislature, and the Governor have exempted Coors Brewing from rules
banning "splash-fill" of waste beer tanks. It seems that splashing releases
Volatile-Organic Compounds (VOCs) that can produce ozone. Coors could
spend $345,000 to alter the fill method or trade some of their "pollution
credits" but they prefer the exemption approach. Maybe they could fill their
tanks in Antarctica to eliminate the ozone depletion phenomenon !

If You Drink Alcoholic
Beverages, Do So in Moderation - Guidelines

The committee recognizes
that this guideline is unique among the Dietary Guidelines because the
substance referred to is both a food -- that is, a calorie-rich beverage -- and
a drug, and as the latter, is subject to abuse and can cause user dependency.
The committee considered whether or not alcohol abuse and excess render this a
public health issue that would be better approached somewhere other than in the
Dietary Guidelines. Yet, alcoholic beverages are a regular part of the diet as
well and, when used in moderation, may be safe and pleasurable. Because the
absence of the guideline after its presence in the three previous editions
would send a confusing message to the public, the committee concluded that the
guideline should be retained with the same heading as in the 1990 version.
Modest changes in the text are suggested.

State of the States

Too little of dress deemed too much for beer
festival

September 29, 1996. Denver Post. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
was kept in the dark at the Great American Beer Festival last night after
organizers of the Denver event said her low-cut dress revealed a bit too much
Elvira. But Sheri Winter, marketing director for the festival at Currigan Hall,
said rules are rules - and at the beer festival, one rule is appropriate dress.
(Yeh right!) Elvira said "Now, I have been wearing this same outfit for 15
years. I just came directly here from appearing at Disney World in Orlando, and
they didn't seem to have a problem with it." Elvira's Night Brew beer was on
hand at the festival with her identically-clad image on the bottles.

Colorado Megas Attempt to "Level the playing
field (and the craft-brewed competition)"

March, 1996. Colorado Spring
Telegraph. The state's major beer wholesalers and retailers have found a
sponsor for their special interest bill to prohibit brewpubs from selling "to
go" beer on Sundays. A state legislator from Vail has no qualms about signing
up to be the sponsor of this industry-written, self-serving, projectionist
legislation. Where are the consumer groups to lobby the legislature to level
the playing field by dumping Colorado's irrational blue laws and allowing all
licensed businesses to sell beer on any weekday regardless of its religious
significance to certain subgroups of the population? Do we see Ralph Nader or
the Green Party speaking up?

New Mexico State DWI Toll Rose With Nation's in
'95

July 1996. Albuquerque Journal. Drunk driving deaths in New Mexico
rose approximately 3% in 1995. Nationally, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration reported a 4% increase in people killed in alcohol-related (no
definition given) crashes. State officials did not credit their intensive
enforcement of the new 0.08% BAC limit or their routine Operation DWI
roadblocks with the increase in deaths.

To Serve (a warm one) and Protect

August 23, 1996. Albuquerque Journal. MADISON, Wis. - Two police officers
were suspended with pay after one of them urinated in a liquor bottle
and both watched an intoxicated man drink from it. The officers then arrested
the man for having an open container. Police Chief Richard Williams
refused to release the names of the two officers. The department said
the man suffered no ill effects! The officers could face criminal
charges.

Accomplice DWI?

October 1, 1996, Albuquerque
Journal. Two roller coaster cars collided Monday at the Munich Oktoberfest,
injuring 26 passengers. Police were investigating the cause of the crash on the
"Euro Star" ride, in which cars, running on an overhead track, spin around.

International

Germany Gets in a Lather About Altering Beer
Genes

July 8, 1996. Wall Street Journal. The European Union's High
Court in Luxembourg rejected a German motion to require EU (European Union)
states to label foods (including beers) with genetically altered ingredients.
Will the 500 year old Reinheitsgebot survive until the 21st century?

Dietary Guidelines -
Summary

The introductory statements refer to the widespread use
of alcoholic beverages to enhance meal satisfaction throughout human history,
and the introduction also refers specifically to the physiologic or drug
effects of alcohol, including the capacity to alter judgment. As before, the
early statements emphasize that dependency and excess can cause serious health
problems.

Moderation

The definition of moderation is
retained from the 1990 edition, but the box defining moderation now appears
earlier in the text. In this same box an additional statement is included that
refers to the calories in alcoholic beverages (also referred to in the weight
guidelines) and the possible contribution to weight gain.

Alcohol-disease risk relationships

The list of problems associated
with heavy drinking has been expanded to include high blood pressure, stroke,
heart disease, certain cancers, accidents, and violence. The concern in the
1990 edition that the beneficial effects of moderate intake on heart attack
were offset by higher risk for hypertension and hemorrhagic stroke has not been
supported by further studies in moderate drinkers where neutral or beneficial
effects on risk of stroke or cerebrovascular disease have been recorded
(99-104).

Those who should not drink

The list is similar
to the 1990 edition but reordered to place children and adolescents at the top.
The term adolescents is interpreted to include all people younger than the
legal age of 21 years. Despite some studies showing no detrimental effects of
low or moderate alcohol intake during pregnancy, the committee recommends
continuation of the prudent advice that women who are pregnant or trying to
conceive (that is, who might already be in the first few weeks after conception
and before a determination as pregnant) should not drink, since an absolutely
safe level of alcohol intake during early pregnancy has not been accepted. Like
the 1990 committee, the current committee found insufficient evidence on which
to base a recommendation on alcohol consumption during lactation.

Advice for today

The text expands the statement in the 1990
guidelines to emphasize the food use of alcoholic beverages rather than the
social drug use. The section recognizes that consumption of alcohol with meals
slows consumption and absorption of alcohol and notes that alcohol should not
be consumed in situations where others might be put at risk.